A new business is coming to the Dexter/Ann Arbor area and its bringing with it a mix of pizza and golf.

It’s called Hometown Pizza & Under Par Simulators. The owners are Alex Willnow and Hunter Comstock. It will be located in Scio Township at 5060 Jackson Road, Suite G, just off of the intersection of Zeeb and Jackson roads.

The Sun Times News connected with Willnow and Comstock to ask about their new venture.

On the pizza side of things, Willnow said, “We are offering a locally owned and made fresh daily product, when it comes to our menu.”

They said they are not your traditional pizza place. Willnow said they prep the large majority of their ingredients on the day of.

“The other significant factor that has separated us from other ‘traditional’ chain pizza locations is our cheese quality,” Willnow said. “We use 100 percent mozzarella cheese that we shred ourselves, daily. Compared to most places who get it pre shredded/frozen shipped in and often is mixed with other blends of cheese. Obviously I am biased in my opinion of that however it truly is a large part of what separates us.”

They also offer freshly made Subs, Calzones, Wings, Salads and Breadsticks.

The front area of their location will be their Take-Out/Delivery Pizza space while the back will have three Golf Simulators, equipped with bar style seating for each simulator bay. They said the simulator area will be equipped with plenty of televisions, comfortable viewing areas and a great atmosphere to enjoy golfing with friends/family.

As for the Golf Simulators, they said from talking with many customers and witnessing first hand other golf simulator businesses, they have found a way to offer the highest quality software/experience at a more affordable rate. They said other locations have to account for the labor cost when pricing their time slots, but they said they will utilize their employees in the pizza side to cut that cost.

“Which in return allows us to offer that more affordable price to customers,” Willnow said.

As an example, they said they have multiple customers who travel from Toledo and Jackson areas to their Adrian Location because they love the quality of their simulators.

Speaking of Adrian, Willnow said he owns/operates a similar business in there at a location that is also a convenience store called Midway Market, which features all of the usual convenience store items: beer, liquor, lottery, tobacco, general grocery, etc. However, it also includes a Hometown Pizza in it where they do take-out and delivery. That location has been open for the past 15 years.

There are two other Hometown Pizza locations they are affiliated with, another one in Adrian and one in Manitou Beach.

In 2021, Willnow said they added into a separate building on the property of Midway Market/Hometown Pizza to bring two Golf Simulators, which is when “Under Par Simulators” was established.

Both Willnow and Comstock bring with them the needed experience to get this new venture going.

Willnow was in the golf industry for 10 years, eventually becoming the Head Golf Professional at Hills of Lenawee (previously named the Lenawee Country Club). He said he began working winters at Midway Market/Hometown Pizza for a good friend of his (who is also a minority investor in this new location) and after three years of doing that he decided he wanted to leave the golf industry to try and buy the business.

Willnow said it took over two years to finally get that process complete (he became owner in September 2020), and then one year after that was when he implemented his knowledge of the golf industry and the community into opening Under Par Simulators.

Comstock started working for Willnow in 2020 and “very quickly realized he wanted to pursue owning his own business someday.”

“He was a large part of helping get Under Par Simulators started, and will become the primary owner of this new location over time,” Willnow said.

They haven’t finalized an opening date, but said they’re hoping to open in December. The Under Par Simulators will not be open until the end of summer, which is important to note, they said. Construction on that part of the business is just beginning, now that the pizza area is mostly complete.

A big part of their plan is to be part of the community.

They said they’re hoping to become sponsors within the schools (Dexter initially) and also are hoping to set up a deal that Faculty/Staff of the schools would receive a discount as well on any order. They are going to be offering discounted special menus to many of the local businesses in the area. For example, if a local business likes to do a staff lunch every Friday, or every other week, they are going to provide them a discounted rate where we could set that up on a recurring basis. It’s not required to be on a recurring basis, but they will provide that discounted rate anytime they choose to order for their business.

“We are looking to truly become a part of the community,” Willnow said.

So stay tuned.

Photo: Alex Willnow and Hunter Comstock inside the new Hometown Pizza and Under Par Simulators location. Photo courtesy of Alex Willnow